KURMUK!!

In Proverbs 25:25 it says, “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (NIV). Since the year that I spent in Kurmuk, Sudan back in 2003; I have heard no news about the people I worked with there. So it was truly like “cool water to a weary soul,” when I was told that I would be flying some people to Kurmuk and staying there for several days… For years I had been longing to return to Kurmuk and see who was still living in the area, and what there lives were like. So it was a huge blessing for Kelsey and I to go Kurmuk on Sunday and return on Wednesday.
To my great surprise, many things in Kurmuk have changed in the last five years. And it was mostly development due to the peace between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Southern Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). The town’s population has visibly tripled because of all the returning refugees. There is cell phone service by three different providers, which totally blows my mind because I thought Kurmuk was as isolated as you could possibly get. There are over 14 different relief and development organizations working in the area on various projects, as apposed to 4 when I was there. The market in Kurmuk has even turned into a massive bazaar with all kinds of produce. The niftiest thing I saw were stands where the salesman had many electrical plugs on a table beside a small generator so that he could charge customer’s cell phones for a small fee.
Although it was great to see and take in all the economic development going on in Kurmuk, the best part about the visit was just getting to see old familiar faces. I got to see many of the old hospital staff, our old compound guard, and Gurshi (who used to be the director of the community center). Gurshi used to go to great lengths to help me go show the Jesus film in various villages in the area. He was a very devout Muslim, and would get permission from all the various Muslim leaders in the area for us to show the movie. On various occasion God has really placed a heavy burden on my heart for this man. So it was really good to see him and get to visit. For some reason God placed it on my heart to give him a really nice pocket size New Testament that I had been carrying around with me for several months. Gurshi has been working with Samaritan’s Purse for the last five years, so he has had access to many free Bibles. But somehow I feel that God could really use this small NT to help Gurshi see the truth. Please be praying that God would speak to him powerfully.